St. Therese Chinese Catholic School earns 3rd National Blue Ribbon award

CHICAGO — A record-breaking number of schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago are celebrating a prestigious national award, recently discontinued by the federal government.

Ten Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Chicago are celebrating National Blue Ribbon School honors.

One of those schools is St. Therese Chinese Catholic School, located at 247 West 23rd Street. This is their third time receiving the award since 2011.

The energy inside of St. Therese Thursday morning was contagious as students celebrated their big accomplishment.

“I’m happy. It’s a national award. It’s kind of crazy, we won it three times in a row,” said 7th grader, Wesley Lo.

The school is one of dozens of Blue Ribbon Schools across the country recognized for having reading and math scores in the top 15 percent nationally. 

In year’s past, the recognition included a formal acknowledgement from officials in D.C. However, that has changed this year because in August, schools awarded the honor were notified by the US Department of Education that the department is no longer participating in the program, stating that “state leaders are best positioned to recognize excellence in local schools based on educational achievements that align with their communities’ priorities for academic accomplishment and improvement.”

In spite of the change, St. Therese is still celebrating.

“We’re extremely proud of our students. Our curriculum is one grade ahead, and so I think that helps us a lot with our students and our curriculum,” said principal, Lisa Oi.

According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, St. Therese is one four schools within the Archdiocese that are celebrating National Blue Ribbon School three-peats this year.